Fifteen years and five albums into one of modern rock’s most enduring collaborations, SLASH FT MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS, also known as SMKC, return today with the new single and official music video, “Flying Blind.” The anthemic track is the first taste of a powerful new chapter for the band and serves as the title track from its highly anticipated fifth studio album, FLYING BLIND, arriving worldwide Feb. 26, 2027, via Gibson Records.
Recorded largely live with longtime producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette at Studio Barbarosa in Florida, the 12-track album captures SLASH on guitar and pedal steel, MYLES KENNEDY on vocals, TODD KERNS on bass, BRENT FITZ on drums, and FRANK SIDORIS on rhythm guitar at their most immediate, instinctive, and tightly connected. The band completed the bulk of the record in approximately one week, often recording two songs a day with the musicians performing together in the same room.
“It’s a really fun, kind of spontaneous rock ’n’ roll record,” says SLASH of FLYING BLIND. “It’s very straightforward and down-to-earth and raw.”
Listen to “Flying Blind,” out today across all digital platforms, and watch the music video, shot on location at The Viper Room in Los Angeles and directed by John Harvatine IV HERE. Pre-save, add and order the album FLYING BLIND HERE.
Created spontaneously during pre-production, “Flying Blind” began when SLASH introduced a riff as the musicians were preparing to rehearse. The song developed quickly, combining SMKC’s unmistakable hard-rock drive with a soaring melody and immediate hook that ultimately made it the natural choice to introduce the album.
SLASH explains, “Created in the studio while we were standing there in pre-production, a riff came to me and started developing. I had nothing of that song prior to those guys coming in, and then we started up a night of rehearsal and played that riff. It came together really quickly. As for it being the first single, you never know what the first single is going to be until you’ve recorded it. When I started thinking about it, ‘Flying Blind’ just seemed to have the right kind of melodic sensibilities and a hook to make it single material.”
For MYLES KENNEDY, the title track’s lyric examines the shortcuts people sometimes pursue in their search for fulfillment. “I really enjoyed putting a melody to this song,” KENNEDY adds. “The way the chord progression starts in the beginning had a nice flow to it. The lyric is about how sometimes people try to take shortcuts and try to find the easy way to achieve happiness or enlightenment.”
SMKC have also announced the FLYING BLIND WORLD TOUR 2027, an extensive international run launching in Latin America in April before reaching North America on April 23 and continuing through the United Kingdom and Europe.
The tour will stop in Dublin, for one show only, at The Summer Series at Trinity College Dublin on Saturday 3rd July.
Fans can sign up now for early access to tickets athttps://laylo.com/slash/m/flyingblindworldtour2027.
Mastercard cardholders have special access to Mastercard Presale tickets, starting from 10am Wednesday October 7, until 10am, Friday October 9. Visit priceless.com/music to find out more and sign up to their newsletter for the latest announcements.
MCD Presale starts Thursday 8th October at 10am here
Spotify Presale starts Thursday 8th October at 12pm
Tickets go on sale to the general public Oct. 9 at https://www.slashonline.com/tour/.
Tickets for Dublin cost €79.90 including booking fees.